Plenary

The General Assembly extended the terms of office of seven permanent judges and nine ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as the terms of office of 13 permanent judges and 10 ad litem judges on the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in order for those courts to meet their revised completion strategies.

Reaffirming that everyone should enjoy the human right to education, the General Assembly this afternoon called on Member States to ensure that right for all affected populations in all phases of emergency situations, and urged them to implement strategies and policies towards that goal as integral to humanitarian responses.

In her first address to the United Nations in 53 years, Queen Elizabeth II lauded the Organization today for its work over the past six decades in fostering peace, reducing poverty and providing emergency aid to millions of people, while calling for leadership in tackling new and emerging challenges.

The General Assembly today voted unanimously to create a new body for accelerating gender equality and women’s empowerment, crowning four-years of tough negotiations to streamline and raise the profile of the United Nations activities to promote the rights of women and girls.

Recognizing the crucial role of the Decolonization Declaration to the expansion of the United Nations membership, the General Assembly adopted a decision today to commemorate on 14 December 2010 the fiftieth anniversary of resolution 1514 (1960), which contains the landmark document.

In one round of balloting today, the General Assembly elected Xue Hanqin (China) as a member of the International Court of Justice, in an election run independently of but concurrently with the Security Council.

Acting on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), the General Assembly this afternoon adopted a peacekeeping budget of $7.2 billion for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011.

“While long-term peace is difficult to achieve, it is more likely when a peacekeeping mission is part of the picture,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a special General Assembly meeting today, as he emphasized the need to ensure that the United Nations was equipped with the requisite human, material and financial resources, and political backing of its Member States, to deploy successful peace operations.

As the General Assembly today concluded its special high-level meeting on transnational organized crime, speakers agreed that the best way to stamp out organized crime and mark the tenth anniversary this year of the landmark United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its additional Protocols was through stronger global follow-up and coordination.

The General Assembly today appointed Gérard Biraud (France), István Posta (Hungary), Papa Louis Fall (Senegal) and Cihan Terzi (Turkey) as members of the Joint Inspection Unit for a five-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2011 and expiring on 31 December 2015.